ADVANCING WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP

Welcome to the Advancing Women's Leadership, a new section of the Chicago Network website designed to provide access to the facts and the best thinking regarding progress in the representation of women in the board room and C-Suite. This new section brings together representation statistics, corporate best practices, actions required, interviews with business leaders and a host of associated data and research on the topic - information that we've assembled in the last 12 years of Census reporting. Consider it a resource that we hope will help educate and inform, as well as offer guidance on actions you can take in your own workplace.

We have just published our 2009 Census, which looks at the progress of women into the senior ranks of Chicago's Top 50 publicly traded companies--as directors, executive officers and top earners. 2009 Census

WHAT WE'VE LEARNED
Over the last twelve years, we've gathered a rich trove of data and conducted interviews with CEOs and civic leaders for our Census reports. We've learned a great deal about what it takes to succeed in the large corporate world, in nonprofits and as entrepreneurs. We've also learned about the challenges that remain for women. We hope these insights and data provide constructive background information on why this matters and specific guideposts to help propel women to leadership positions.

WHAT WE CAN DO
While there has been some progress over the last few decades, there is still much that remains to be done. Considering women for c-suite positions and board assignments must occur more often, with companies requesting that women be included on every slate of candidates. In recent years, we've seen women lose ground in key executive and board roles at the same time research continues to link corporate success with larger numbers of women in leadership positions. Find out what steps you can take to help advance women in your organization.